Another close shave

Like most of you, we’re waiting for the Owls to break out of this season-long funk. Tuesday night, they produced another lackluster performance, edging Prairie View 5-4 thanks to a two-run rally in the bottom of the ninth at Reckling Park.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way. The losses to Texas State and St. John’s have been hard to decipher, and the uneven play in every phase — pitching, offense and defense — make it hard to believe this team is Omaha-bound. But then you peruse the roster and take inventory of the raw talent, and you start to believe otherwise.

At least the Owls haven’t deluded themselves. Joe Savery was very critical of himself and his teammates after last week’s setback at Texas, and while not as sharp with his words, Brian Friday basically echoed those sentiments Tuesday.

“We definitely have to get things worked out or we’re not going to be what we want to be, and that’s a championship team,” Friday said. “We’re going to East Carolina and they’re good, so we’ve got to get these things worked out because when it comes crunch time in the playoffs, one loss is huge, and you’ve got to get situational hitting, you’ve got to be able to get those runs early on that you should get so you don’t have to have tight spots late, which we haven’t been doing.”

So what can be done? And what signs do you need to see that will indicate the Owls are turning the corner and becoming the team most everyone expected?

As for Cole St. Clair, he could have returned for the ninth, but recognizes that he must take things slowly. He had worked on taking pauses during bullpen sessions to emulate inning breaks, but admitted that there was no need for him to return.

3 Responses

I don’t know this to be the case but I wonder if our mostly-junior lineup has put the draft ahead of the team? I certainly hope it’s not the case because outside of Savery (on the mound only) and CSC, I’m not sure if any of our guys are ready for the minors yet. Guys like Henley, Friday, Dodson, Lehmann, etc., are not ready for minor league pitching yet IMO.

I’m not trying to say that I am completely dissatisfied with the team, because they are obviously very good. Still, I don’t get the feeling that they are living up to their potential. The good news is that they still have a chance to peak at the right time of the season.

The dearth of postings in response to your question provides the answer, MK! This team lacks the dominant starters of years past and all too often the hitters seem locked into going for the long ball instead of making the most out of what they are given. There’s still time to sort it all out, thankfully, but we are waiting for the Owls to show they can beat another very good team like they did the Dirtbags. Maybe this weekend?